46% Of Europeans View U.S. To Have Negative Influence On World
According to Lord Neil Kinnock, a former politician who is now the chair of the British Council, the mounting hostility between Europeans and U.S. citizens could leave long lasting damage to transatlantic relations.
A former vice-president of the European Commission, Lord Kinnock stated that he found the results in the British Council survey that was published on Wednesday to be concerning as 46% of Europeans surveyed agreed that they viewed the overriding influence of the U.S. in the world to be a negative one.
Lord Kinnock believes that these sentiments are increasingly prevalent towards the U.S. and that the opinions of Europeans towards the U.S. became even more dubious when George W. Bush snatched power in 2001. European sentiments took an even worse turn when the U.S. invaded Iraq five years ago.
On the other side of the pond, over 30% of U.S.citizens see Europeans as being aloof; which shows that transatlantic relations aren’t very good on either side and worse than thought before.
The results listed in the poll suggest that the measures taken by European countries and Washington to co-operatively fight climate change, international terrorism and poverty haven’t had a strong impact at all. Nine countries were polled for these results, Britain, Ireland, Poland, Germany, France, Spain,Turkey, Canada, and the U.S.
According to Lord Kinnock, the E.U. has stepped up relations with the U.S., however because there is yet to be much of an impact on issues like climate change and terrorism, citizens from both sides aren’t seeing much come of the co-operation and, understandably, don’t see it as really working.
The survey showed that most people would actually be happy with stronger transatlantic bonds, however there are blocks in that path too. Europeans cite their primary reason for not engaging with the U.S. as being due to Washington’s current foreign policy, and citizens of the U.S. stated that the main roadblock to closer ties is that Europeans are too liberal.
Other polls have shown similar concerns from Europeans towards the U.S.; in a Harris opinion poll which was conducted for the Financial Times and published this week it was shown that Europeans – British, German, and Spanish citizens were polled – consider the largest threat to global stability to be the the U.S., who topped even China, Iran, and North Korea.
Lord Kinnock said that the British Council has embarked on a youth project which is to combat the psychological widening of the Atlantic.
According to the British Council’s head of communications for western Europe and North America, Julian Morgan, the survey indicates the true depth of the breach between Europe and the U.S., which has far exceeded expectations.
Morgan also stated that the survey suggested that cultural stereotypes were still in full swing, with 34% of those polled in the U.S. stating they believed Europeans are snobbish, and 62% of Europeans polled, believe those in the U.S. to be keen consumers and 45% think people from the U.S. are selfish.
The U.S. people polled were apparently happier to take action against environmental or social issues that they cared about, like paying taxes.
There were some strikingly positive views from both sides regarding transatlantic co-operation, which concerned business and trade, and the fighting of global diseases like HIV-Aids and malaria.
A minimum of 500 people participated in the survey in each country, and in the U.K. 1,019 people were polled and 2,001 were polled in the U.S., according to the two companies to perform the polls, GlobeScan and IFF.
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